Feds checking missile-danger levels in nation's airports

March 11, 2003|By Chicago Tribune.

Anti-terrorism agents are being sent to Chicago and airports in about 80 other cities to gauge the vulnerability of low-flying passenger planes to the threat of shoulder-fired missiles, FBI and Chicago officials said Monday.

The need to safeguard aircraft goes well beyond the boundaries of O'Hare International Airport. Protecting flights that approach and depart O'Hare and travel over forest preserves, lakes and remote but easily accessible locations--including cemeteries--is the main focus of the federal task force here.

As part of their assessment, officials also will seek to tighten access to high-rise offices near O'Hare, including buildings along the Tri-State Tollway, to prevent the possibility of rooftop attacks.

The agents will begin their work around O'Hare this week, sources said.

Chicago officials, worried that aircraft could be targeted by portable heat-seeking missiles while flying over downtown, have asked that Midway Airport and Meigs Field be included in the security review.

"The [Bush] administration is taking a very aggressive approach to counter the real threat" of portable air-defense systems that have been acquired by terrorists, said Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Roehrkasse declined to say whether any credible threats have been made against specific U.S. airports.

He said the program, a continuation of security enhancements after the terrorist attacks in September 2001, will start by assessing areas around the largest commercial airports that serve most travelers.

Experts then will develop remedies for each airport, which could include anti-missile technology that detects a missile and interferes with a rocket's guidance system, causing it to veer off target.

Aircraft flying out of O'Hare are considered a bigger risk than approaching planes because they are laden with fuel. Because the jet engines are at full thrust during takeoff, they emit more heat to attract missiles.